NJ Economic Recovery Behind Neighbor States, Study Finds [AUDIO]

A new study finds New Jersey's economic recovery will drag behind the bounce back of many of its Northeast neighbors.

Economist Jim Diffley authored the study for IHS of Englewood. He says it may take until 2015 for Jersey to return to pre-recession levels.

The research firm predicts that nearly half the 50 states will regain their lost jobs by 2013, earlier than New Jersey. The Garden State lost about 250,000 jobs during the recession, and is still about 177,000 off its pre-recession peak.

Diffley says two factors, slow housing recovery and a pharmaceutical industry that hasn't scored a big hit in awhile are hampering recovery. He says a lot of the pharmaceuticals find themselves in that position right now, and New Jersey is most adversely affected by it.

But Diffley also emphasizes that New Jersey will ultimately catch up. He also wants to put our slow growth recovery in perspective. Diffley says the experience overall in our state has been better than that of places such as Florida and Georgia and Arizona.

He says government policies will have a limited impact on the state's recovery.